1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to carriers for articles such as Halloween treats and the safety issues relating to trick or treating.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, the tradition of trick or treating at Halloween is done at dusk and into the night when the danger to a child not being seen by approaching motor vehicles is greatest. To minimize this danger, the child is often required to carry a flashlight or battery powered lantern to warn drivers of motor vehicles of the child's presence. For younger children, this method is burdensome, as the child is required to carry both a container for carrying the collected treats and a flashlight or lantern and the degree of safety for the child is thereby diminished. Additionally, novel carriers are generally sought by children and their parents, especially those that provide safety features, such as illumination.
Various lighting means for treat-carrying jack-o-lanterns and the like have been developed in the past to overcome the shortcomings of carrying both a flashlight or battery powered lantern and a trick or treat bag or container. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,698,732 and 4,714,985, for example, describe carriers for treats and other articles which have single and double bottoms and which employ a flashlight insert which must be manually switched on to illuminate the container and, thereby, allow approaching motor vehicles to see the child. Not only are these lighting means cumbersome and heavy, the typical flashlight batteries will drain in a relatively short period of time, leaving the means without illumination, unless the child turns off the flashlight when he or she is not walking in the roadway. U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,071 describes a lantern candy carrier which employs a battery powered light source which must be manually switched on and off. Again, the same shortcomings of the lighting means described in the prior two patents are present in this invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,296 describes another attempt to provide a battery powered, illuminated carrying bag for transporting articles. This lighting means, however, has no manual switch mechanism. Instead, the batteries are inserted to activate the light bulbs. To prolong battery life, the child would be required to remove the batteries, clearly a difficult task for a young child. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,230 describes an ornamental carrier with flashlight-type eyes employing a manual switch in a rigid handle. This lighting means provides only uni-directional lighting and fails to provide adequate warning of the child's presence to an approaching motor vehicle unless the face of the ornamental carrier is pointed toward the motor vehicle.
Although these prior art lighting means provide children with some degree of safety at night, as well as novelty, their shortcomings are overcome in the present invention.